Recent experience with Cowboy lump

[keithu]

I've read a lot of negative reviews of Cowboy lump charcoal. Unfortunately it's one of the only lump fuels consistently available around here. The reviews report a lot of garbage and dimensional lumber, but I haven't seen that in the 10-15 bags of it I've burned over the last year.

I also found a review saying the Cowboy lump comes from Mexico, but the bags I buy all say "Made in USA from oak and hickory."

Yes, I do find rocks periodically after a burn, but most other brands I've tried have rocks, bolts, nails, plywood, etc. I recently drove up to Portland and splurged on a bag of "Rockwood" lump charcoal from a BBQ specialty store. While pouring the second chimney an empty Pepsi can rolled out of the bag.

I wonder if Cowboy has improved their quality control. Has anyone else used it in the last year or so?

 

[browneyesvictim]

I gave up on Cowboy. I have now been getting my lump at Bi-Mart. Its ok but it does have a lot of small pieces in it. I cant remember the brand of it now.... But I have also found Lazzari Lump at Cash and Carry.

 

[keithu]

The last random bag of lump I bought at Bimart smelled like gasoline when it burned. I lit two chimneys and threw the rest in my fire pit.

I'll keep my eye on Bimart though. They get random weird stuff. Bimart, Lowe's, and Coastal Farm are the only places in my town that stock any lump at all, and it's Cowboy only at Lowe's and Coastal.

 

[browneyesvictim]

That's odd... I would have thrown them out if the smelled like gasoline too. Like I said, I gave up on Cowboy and you are right, I haven't seen many other choices either except the Lazzari at C & C. Even then Bi-Mart only carries the lump in season!

You mentioned you are somewhere south of Portland but not sure where. But there is a Cash and Carry in Salem. If you haven't ever been there before, you owe it to yourself to make a trip. If nothing else but access to their cryovac pacs of primal cuts and sub primals and so much more. Great prices too- especially when on the hot sheet!

That reminds me... I just cooked up my last tri-tip, so I'm out! Time for a trip myself!
Smoke on!

 

[browneyesvictim]

I just looked again, and the Lazzari (Mequite) is $14.40 for a 40 lb bag or you can get them in the 6.75 lb bag for $4.47 each or a case of 4 for $16.99

I am also buying their Royal Oak Chefs Select briquettes there at 9.89 for a 20 lb bag.

 

[noboundaries]

The last random bag of lump I bought at Bimart smelled like gasoline when it burned.

I had that experience with Royal Oak Lump. Smelled like diesel fuel, not gasoline. Took three years of leaving the bag open in my garage for the smell to go away.

Never had an issue with Lazzari. Probably my favorite lump. I have a bag of Sonora mesquite in the garage I haven't opened yet.

 

[forkin pork]

Wow a Pepsi bottle, that's a first.
Well, this is one area I feel strong in, so, I'm gonna try and give the best advise I know, from my area in Stamford, Ct.
I do a hand full of KCBS BBQ competitions, not a ton, about 7, maybe 10 on a good year. I also do a lot of judging on the circuit as well.
Starting out and over the years I've done my own testing and reviews on charcoal, even did a ton of research on the charcoal as well, one spot I always look to is;
http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm

With all that being said, I do find that you do get what you pay for. Now, there isn't too much difference, but then there is, because, if you search you will fine great charcoal bricks and lump, and you will in most cases, fine a way to get it.

There are many ways to get great charcoal, one brand and type is Royal Oak Bricks, (for food service only brand). You can get this thur "Do It Best" and they will deliver to a hardware store near you.
The bricks are big and heavy and last a while. I also like RO Lump, a good lump charcoal, but it does have scrape wood for being premium charcoal.
Next I have to say is Wicked Good, costly, hard to find, but real good.

Cutting though the list, one of my all time favorites as far as lump, is Quebracho Charcoal.
I buy it on Amazon and this stuff is great real hardwood log chunks, no bull sh*t scrapes.
I like mixing it with, RO bricks.

So over the last 15yrs this is the best combo I personally have found and use, next to using real wood splits and a charcoal mix.

Any questions, let me know, I'll see if I can help.

Oh and Cowboy brand, one of the worst

 

[keithu]

I'm in Albany. I haven't been to C&C but Salem isn't too far to drive. Thanks for the tip!

 

[keithu]

I just looked again, and the Lazzari (Mequite) is $14.40 for a 40 lb bag

Does the Lazzari have a strong mesquite flavor? That would limit it's application for me.

 

[forkin pork]

This charcoal comes in a 6.75-pound bag, a bag which has been slightly modified since our first review. According to their website, Lazzari Mesquite charcoal can also be purchased in 15, 20 and 40-pound bags.

Upon opening the bag, we found only a small amount of uncarbonized wood. We found no scrap, no rocks, no funny stuff. As you can see from the following table, the size of the pieces is fairly evenly distributed, with the chips and dust being about 12% of the bag by weight. This is a little better than average. We opened a second bag which had 42% large pieces.

Large 1.8 pounds 25.3%
Medium 1.8 pounds 26.4%
Small 2.5 pounds 36.2%
Chips/Dust 0.8 pounds 12.1%
Total 6.9 pounds
The charcoal took 2.5 sheets to start in our chimney starter test, which is again, a little better than average. As it burned in the chimney starter, there were significant sparks and popping, however this disappears when placed in a cooker and the airflow is reduced. The fire was very very quick to spread in the cooker. The smell was a mild smell of mesquite. The maximum temperature we were able to achieve was 890 degrees which is above average.

Burn time was low and ash production was average. (Mesquite charcoal, in general, seems to burn for shorter times and produce more ash than other hardwood charcoals.) We give this charcoal our Above Average rating.

Reader's Score: 4.07 (220 votes)

5 - Best Ever 77

(35%)
4 - Good Stuff 101

(46%)
3 - So So 30

(14%)
2 - Pretty Bad 6

(3%)
1 - Worst Ever 6

(3%)

 

[noboundaries]

Does the Lazzari have a strong mesquite flavor? That would limit it's application for me.

Not at all. There's a hint of mesquite flavor if you use a load that has a few partially uncarbonized pieces, but not like when I add mesquite chunks or logs to my smoker.

I've got five turkeys in the freezer. Going to pull one out this week to thaw and smoke. Might have to open the Sonora mesquite to see how it does. I've got about 8 lbs of RO Lump I need to use up though, so I'll probably use it.

 

[SmokinAl]

I like RO lump, never had a problem with it, and it's readily available around here.
The last time I used Cowboy, it was like fireworks going off in the smoker. Only used it that one time & that was a few years ago, maybe they have improved it since then.
Al

 

[browneyesvictim]

I'm in Albany. I haven't been to C&C but Salem isn't too far to drive. Thanks for the tip!

You bet neighbor! Glad to help. Just be warned... That place is very dangerous, if you know what I mean... for someone that likes to BBQ, that is... for example... boneless butts are on the hot sheet right now for $1.48 /lb. They come in a twin pack.

Oh, and if you are coming south toward Eugene/Springfield, The C & C down here is right off the exit- just on the North side of Gateway. I haven't ever been to the one is Salem before.

 

[Hntrss]

I got fiberglass insulation and pieces of 2x4 in my Royal Oak Lump. Unfortunately I had dumped it in my BGE and didn’t realize until I saw black acrid smoke pouring out and smelt burning fiberglass. I refused to cook anything on the egg that day, (luckily I have a Weber gas grill too). I filled the fire box and ran it with both vents wide open, hopefully incinerating any contaminants at about 700 degrees. I no longer use any lump without inspecting every piece. I was furious and wanted to call RO, but they have no contact phone number listed on their website, at least at that time.

 

[bluewhisper]

I must be lucky somehow, I've never found rocks or metal in any of the brands of lump I've used. Some pieces do look like dimensional wood, though.

Finding fiberglass would make me mad enough to mail it back to the company with a hot letter.

 

[SmokinAl]

Yea fiberglass would push me off the deep end too.
Al

 

[BBQSoCal]

I usually use Royal Oak but I use Cowboy now and then if I need some quick and that's all I can get quickly. I used it for my most recent smoke which was Brisket. I don't mind Cowboy. It works for me but preference is Royal Oak because I see less small little pieces and charcoal dust in Royal Oak. Don't get me wrong, RO also has this but not as much.

 

[bluewhisper]

I usually use RO but sometimes I've used El Gallito from a local Latino store. It seems to get lame reviews online but it has been OK for me. Not sure but I think Cowboy isn't in the stores around here.

 

[BBQSoCal]

bluewhisper, sometimes I get charcoal from the Mexican store but not sure the brand. What I know is the bags are very large and many times the pieces are very big like logs. Then there is a lot of dust and small pieces. I can live with that but my fave so far is RO. Cowboy is okay when needed.

 

[bluewhisper]

You're probably referring to another brand. This is what I got:

http://www.filtsai.com/cooking/ribs/el_gallito.jpg